THERE WASN’T NEPOTISM IN TEACHER RECRUITMENT – MWEETWA

THERE was no nepotism or favoritism in the recent teacher recruitment as opposed by some sections of society in North Western Province where they claimed that some locals were omitted in the process, Minister of Information Cornelius Mweetwa has said.

Recently, the Nsakwaya Kaonde group protested against the alleged nepotism during the teacher recruitment exercise claiming that some of the locals in North Western Province were left out during the process.

But Mr. Mweetwa said to the contrary, the recruitment was for all Zambians regardless of their tribal inclination.

The minister who acknowledged that every recruitment had its own challenges explained that in the recent recruitment, there was a backlog in the recruitment process and that many people were still waiting.

Recently the Nsankwaya Kaonde cultural Association in a letter dated February 7th, 2024 indicated that it had received numerous complaints that the just ended teacher recruitment exercise in Kasempa, Mufumbwe and Mushindamo District were left out in preference to people from other districts.

The letter specified that after thorough investigations into the allegations, they established that indeed most of the local based applicants (Kaondes and non Kaondes) in the three districts who have been volunteering at various schools were left out.

“Nsakwayaba Kaonde is questioning the criteria that the ministry of Education used to employ Teachers in the just ended exercise,” part of the letter reads.

They earnestly appealed to the minister of Education to probe the numbers of teachers employed in the past three years in North Western Province that have left but still using the payroll management and establishment control (PMEC) numbers for the province.